12:45PM
Though a "see you soon" (modified goodbye) adds sadness to any day, seas and wind and sunshine like this are making today a beautiful day for a sail, anyway. This is the sort of sailing I dreamed about; just a nice 13 knot breeze from the NW directly on my beam (90 degrees to starboard) as I head Southwest out and away from the San Francisco Bay. I motorsailed under main only out from the bay, and soon after rolled out the yankee as the wind was picking up. Motorsailed for a while at 7+ knots and decided to let the stasail have a turn, and we're on such a nice tack that I just had to shut down the motor completely and we're now doing 6.2+ knots under full sail (main, yankee/genoa, and stasail). It's so peaceful that I can't bring myself to even turn on the radio. Not sure how long I'll have Internet, as I may head farther out to ensure decent wind, but I'll update when I can. My goal is just about 24 hours worth of sailing this leg; not sure if that means Morro Bay or San Luis Obispo or just an anchorage somewhere between.
3PM
Though a "see you soon" (modified goodbye) adds sadness to any day, seas and wind and sunshine like this are making today a beautiful day for a sail, anyway. This is the sort of sailing I dreamed about; just a nice 13 knot breeze from the NW directly on my beam (90 degrees to starboard) as I head Southwest out and away from the San Francisco Bay. I motorsailed under main only out from the bay, and soon after rolled out the yankee as the wind was picking up. Motorsailed for a while at 7+ knots and decided to let the stasail have a turn, and we're on such a nice tack that I just had to shut down the motor completely and we're now doing 6.2+ knots under full sail (main, yankee/genoa, and stasail). It's so peaceful that I can't bring myself to even turn on the radio. Not sure how long I'll have Internet, as I may head farther out to ensure decent wind, but I'll update when I can. My goal is just about 24 hours worth of sailing this leg; not sure if that means Morro Bay or San Luis Obispo or just an anchorage somewhere between.
I've turned a bit more to the south, so the wind is now on my starboard quarter. I think the wind died a bit too, so a bit ago I figured it would be a good time to check out the asymmetrical spinnaker. It's not bad - sort of pretty, but I'm afraid the wind may be even too light right now for the kite. It's flapping a bit and losing the wind occasionally, so I'll probably have to start motoring again soon. We're still moving along okay at 5-6 knots.
I've uploaded a video to Veoh that shows what it's like on the boat under sail. Took it when we had all the sails up about 6 miles outside of the Golden Gate bridge.
Here's that video: http://www.veoh.com/videos/v1474770qatqzjCw
